Terrorist Killing Spree — It Could Happen Here

Family members of victims of Monday's shooting in Toulouse cry during a funeral in Jerusalem on March 21, 2012.

A wannabe al-Qaeda went on a killing spree in France. Don’t breathe a sigh of relief because it happened over there. It can happen here.

At least 45 plots aimed at the U.S. since 9/11 have been thwarted. Good work—but cold comfort. We have not stopped all of them. When Major Nidal Hasan allegedly shot dead his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, it was after having told an al-Qaeda recruiter, “I can’t wait to join you [in the afterlife].”

Alone or in small numbers, a few can slaughter many innocents—and it doesn’t take a weapon of mass destruction much more sophisticated than a mind of full of hate. Even the horrific 2008 attacks in Mumbai by bands of armed terrorists is something that could happen anywhere in the free world.

When it comes to dealing with these threats, not much has changed since 9/11. The best defense against organized armed assaults is to stop them before they occur by developing and maintaining effective counterterrorism, intelligence, and information sharing programs. If these kinds of armed assaults do happen, the best preparation is to think about the unthinkable beforehand and be ready to deal with it.

The incident in France also reminds us that al-Qaeda is not just a global transnational terrorist network. It’s the core of global Islamist insurgency, and dealing with that kind of threat requires a more robust strategy than just chasing down individual terrorists. Sadly, the U.S. counter-terrorism strategy doesn’t get it, and following the President’s approach to dealing with terrorism might well make us less safe.

James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundation’s Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. Read his research.

Join The Discussion

nidal hasan had mental issues and behavioral tendencies that should have been handled properly to avoid his ability to take down our soldiers. it was too easy!!!!! failure by neglect, incompetence, political correctness???? If a man can't stand his accountabilities because the government tells him he isn't white, he should be kept from standing at all or rise above the condescension of the government enforced political correctness!!!

Of course it can and probably WILL happen here, In fact I believe it HAS happened here. There have been numerous attacks, not well-reported in the corrupt media, involving muzzies driving cars into crowds and shooting up vulnerable places like a Jewish elderly person center of some kind, and others. And there are the reports for 30 years or more tha I have received from craftsmen I knew. They were called into a mosque to do electrical, plumbing or other work and came out aghast. THAT PLACE IS FULL OF GUNS! So the question becomes why? Why are mosques packed full of guns? If we do not start to do the smart thing, which is stop admitting these people to the country, stop allowing them to become citizens and start ousting all those already here we WILL see more massacres, probably on a large scale.

A 9/11 pilot wanted flying lessons to only take off a plane. Nidal Hasan gave plenty of glues as to his religious bent and potential act. What say we start acting like responsible Americans and respond when something really looks wrong or does not comport with common sense.

It has happened here – in the action of Major Hassan. And, is it likely to happen againg? Of course. We might even find it perpetrated by a Mid-West Bread Basket hulk or a freckly faced red-headed kid who CONVERTS AND RADICAIZES (without going to jail first).
Think – No Better yet – read about the Commintern in the US in the 20's and 30's.

Doesn't matter if they do it here or not. The media will just label the killers 'lone wolf', or mentally imbalanced. It must be tough to be a terrorist here when the media never give you credit. It kind of defeats the aim of terrorism.

Why in the name of Christ would I 'breathe a sigh of relief that it happened [in France]?' Show some compassion for God's sake – three children shot dead, but it's basically only bad insofar as it could happen again in America?

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